The present invention relates to color matching and, more specifically, to a computerized method of color matching semitransparent wood stains.
Stains are semitransparent solutions or suspensions of coloring matter (such as dyes or pigments or both) in a vehicle, designed to color a surface by penetration without hiding it or leaving a continuous film. In contrast, paints are opaque solutions or suspensions of coloring matter in a vehicle, designed to hide or cover a surface with an opaque film. Computerized color matching techniques using spectrophotometers are routinely used to color match paints. Heretofore, computerized color matching techniques using spectrophotometers have not been used to color match semitransparent stains, presumably because the substrate to be stained and/or the substrate of the stain standard to be matched are not hidden by the stains and are conventionally thought to effect the color of the stains in a manner that cannot be properly accounted for by conventional computerized color matching techniques. Instead, semitransparent stains are conventionally color matched using a trial-by-error method. In such a trial-by-error method, a colorist inspects the color of the stain standard and then guesses the pigments in a library and relative concentrations necessary to provide a color matching stain. A stain is then prepared based on the pigment and concentration guesses. The stain is applied to a substrate and then the stained substrate is compared to the stain standard. If the visual inspection indicates that the stain standard and the stained substrate do not match, the colorist guesses at the amount of pigments to add to the stain and the new stain is applied to the substrate. These steps are repeated until the colorist determines that there is a color match. As can be appreciated, such a trial-by-error method is tedious and relies upon the skill of the colorist for its effectiveness. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a computerized method of color matching semitransparent stains. The present invention is directed to such a method.